Hitch mechanism



March 27, 1951 w, vu z 2,546,531

HITCH MECHANISM Filed May 10, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. II z'ZkeZmV2122 March 27, 1951 w. VUTZ 2,546,531 HITCH MECHANISM Filed May 10,1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

[Wilhelm 1 21?! 2, BY

MOWW

ment. Theinvention has utility, however, in any Fig. 1. is a perspectiveview of the. end of' a to another vehicle in tractor-trailerrelationship. device constructed according to the present. in- Manytypes of farm equipment are. not comvention in. position for connectingthe two vehipletely self-sustaining on their own chassis. ales, and withthe end of the elevator on the Illustrations of this type of equipmentare mowground. preparatory to being raised to a position ers, hay rakes,tractor-drawn manure Spreaders, inwhich. it. may be attached to the drawbar and and portable elevators where the main running the. tractor mayeffectively move it from place weight of. the. device is carried by twowheels but to place.

additional support is derived from the draw bar Fig. 2. is a perspectiveof the samev vehicle of the tractor. showing how the device of thepresent invention to the tractor when the device. is to be moved thereofon to the tractorthe ground- Such elevators may weigh 1500 line 33 ofFig. 1 showing. one of the horizontal substantial proportion of thetotal weight. A arrangement permitting the operating shaft of.diflicult. and should the jack slip, the tackle break bers [2 at thefront end thereof. In the illus- .results are likely to be extremelyserious by reaforced. and connected by side plates l3, each connecessarywork is performed in this. operation 40 Extending forwardly from the:front end of position at which the implement may be. safely and of whichis an. aperture 890: through. which and readily attached to the draw barand easily a pin 20. (Fig. 2) may be inserted. to register with which.may be permanently attached to the chas- In. the above construction. itwill be. apparent Patented Mar. 27, 1951 Y I I UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE HITCH MECHANISM Wilhelm Vutz, Goldwater, Ohio, assignor to AvcoManufacturing Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of DelawareApplication May 10, 1949,. Serial No. 92,460 2 Claims. (01. BSD-33AMThis invention. relates to lifts and hitches and pli'shment, togetherwith additional. objects and is particularly applicable to a combinedlift and advantages thereof will. best be understood from hitch forconnecting farm equipment to the draw the following. description. of aspecific embodibar of a tractor. The illustrative embodiment ment. whenread in. conjunction with the accomherein described will be directed tothis environ- -5 panying drawings, in whichcircumstance where. anunbalanced vehicle not portable elevator adjacent to the rearwardlyexhaving. its own motive power is to be connected tendin end of. a. drawbar ofv a tractor, with a With elevators. which. may be. as long asfifty may be actuated to lift the. front end of the or more feet in.length, the end. to be. attached elevator from the groundv and apply theweight fromv one position. to another normally rests upon Fig. 3 is anenlarged. section taken along the pounds or more andv only part ofv thisweight. is pivots of the device. carried by the wheels, with the.result. that the Fig. 4 is an enlarged. View, partly in section, end tobe attached to the tractor may carry a of the actuating lever of thedevice showingv an jack, a block and tackle attached to some elevatedthe lifting mechanismv to be rotated. in a selected point,. or severalstrong men are required to perdirection.

form the operation of lifting the end of. the ele- In the drawings, anelevator generally desigvator from. the ground and connecting it to thenated. as 10 is shown as comprisin longitudinal draw bar of a tractor.This operation is very frame members H and transverse frame memor one ofthe men. lose his grip or footing, the trativev device these framemembers are. reinson of the partly raised end of the elevator sudtaininga bearing I4 in which a shaft [5 is jourdenly dropping to the ground.naled for the purpose of driving the elevator Furthermore, the settingup of suitable equipmechanism.. The actual drive of the elevator mentand tackle for the purpose of effectin a forms no part of the presentinvention and is hitch is expensive and time consuming, and unnot shownin the drawings.

if" it is attempted by manual labor only. the elevator and pivotallysecured to each side It is an object of the present invention to platel3at 25 and 25 are two arms. l6 and. [1 provide a simple apparatus bymeans of which converging toward a sleeve I 8 pivotally mounted the end.of a farm implement may be connected betweenv the ends of the arm. The;sleeve I28 may to the draw bar of a tractor and subsequently comprise asimple forging having a horizontal lifted by means of. mechanical.advantage.- toa member l9 formed integrally therewith, in the drawn awayfrom. its positionof. rest. a. complementary aperture 2m in the end. ofthe A further object is to provide an apparatus draw bar 2|. Sleeve I 8is mounted for rotation for performing the above-mentioned functionsabout bushing [8a.

sis of the vehicle with whicl'rit: is to be used, that the: pin 20 will;act. as the vertical. pivot of which is simple and compact inconstruction, the hitch while the bushing [8a through which dependablein operation, and requires minimum is extended a bolt 22 having a head23 and the upkeep. end of which is secured by a nut 24, will act as Thenovel features that I consider characterthe horizontal pivot of thehitch. These pivots istic of my invention are set forth in the appermitrelative movement between the tractor pended claims. The invention,itself, however, and the drawn vehicle in a manner Well known both as toits organization and method of accomin the art.

Secured intermediate of i and IT by brackets 33 and 34 is an internallythreaded block 30 comprising two arms BI and 32 each pivotally securedto one of the brackets by means of horizontal pivots 35 and 36 which mayconsist of simple bolts. The shank portion of block 39 is internallythreaded to receive an externally threaded shaft 37, the end of which isjournaled in suitable bearings (not shown) in a bracket 38 secured tothe upper cross frame member 12 of the elevator. The outermost end 39 ofshaft 3'! is conveniently provided with a polygonal cross section overwhich the interior hub of a ratchet wheel 4?. is removably secured.

As will be observed in Fig. 4, the ratchet wheel 42 is journaled in thebifurcated end 41 of a lever 40. A pair of ratchet pawls 29 and 29a maybe mounted on pin 50 within the bifurcated end 4! for selectiveengagement with the ratchet teeth of wheel 42. Spring S positioned asshown in Fig. 4 may be arranged so that one pawl may be renderedinoperative by sliding stop 5| against it in a manner well known in theart.

It will be understood that the lever assembly 40 is arranged so that itmay be removed and stored in a convenient place in or adjacent theelevator and that when in use the internal diameter of the ratchet wheel42 is simply slipped over the polygonal end 39 of shaft 31 so that theshaft 31 may be turned by movement of arm 4D in one direction throughthe action of one of the pawls on the ratchet wheel 42. When the stop 5|is moved to its other position, movement of the arm in the otherdirection will allow the other pawl to engage the ratchet teeth forrotation of wheel 42 in the other direction.

Thus rotation of shaft 31 in a selected direction may be accomplished byadjusting the sliding stop 5! to render one of the pawls inoperative.

The operation of the device is understood from a comparison of Figs. 1and 2. Fig. 1 shows the position of the front end of the elevator as itrests upon the ground, ground line G being drawn parallel to and in theplane of the side plate l3 nearest the observer. The tractor is backedup to a position adjacent the front end of the elevator and the lever 49rotated in a direction so that the shaft 31 is screwed into the block30. During this operation the distal end of the hitch unit is rotatedabout a horizontal axis comprising pivots 25 and 26 and is raised to apoint Where the lower edge of plate l9 is level with the draw bar 2|.When this is accomplished, the tractor is simply backed into a positionin which the aperture 2 Ha in the draw bar may be aligned with theaperture 19a in plate 19 and pin 20 dropped in place.

Sliding stop 5| is now shifted to render the other pawl inoperative andarm 40 is now rotated in the opposite direction in order to extend theshaft 31 and screw it out of the block 30. During the operation thehitch rotates about the pivot 22 and the end of the elevator is raised.The mechanical advantage provided by the lifting arrangement permits theheavy elevator to be thus raised about pivot 22 by one man who simplyeffects adjustment of the proper spring pressed pawl and oscillates thearm 40 of the lift, the weight of the front end of the elevator beingtransferred to the draw bar and thence to the chassis of the tractor.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination with a farm implement which during normal operationhas one end resting on the ground which said end is adapted to be raisedand releasably secured to a draft device to permit transportability, ahitch and ratchet apparatus comprising a pair of spaced arms pivotallysecured at independent points to the end of the farm implement, saidarms converging at their ends remote from the end of the farm implement,a bearing bushing rigidly secured to the convergent ends of said arms, asleeve rotatably supported by said bushing, said sleeve having a portionthereof extending therefrom and formed to define an aperture forengagement with complementary means provided on the draft device, aninternally threaded block comprising a pair of diverging legs each ofwhich is pivotally secured to one of said arms intermediate its ends, athreaded shaft, the lower end of said threaded shaft engaging saidthreaded block and the upper end being rotatably mounted at the end ofsaid farm implement above the points at which said arms are pivotallysecured thereto, and a removable reversible ratchet handle forselectively rotating said shaft in a clockwise or counterclockwisedirection for swinging said arms relative to the farm implement.

2. In a farm implement having an end adapted to be raised and releasablysecured to a draft device to permit transportability, a hitch apparatuscomprising a pair of spaced arms pivotally attached to the end of saidfarm implement, said arms converging at their extended ends, a sleeverotatably secured between said extended ends, said sleeve having aportion thereof extending therefrom for attachment to said draft device,an internally threaded block comprising a pair of diverging legs, eachof which legs is pivotally secured to one of said arms intermediate itsends, a threaded shaft, one end of said threaded shaft engaging saidthreaded block and the other end being rotatably mounted at the frontend of said implement, and removable reversible means for selectivelyrotating said shaft in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction forswinging said arms relative to said farm implement.

WILHELM VUTZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

